Water is life but in Kenya today, water is also risk. Climate change is reshaping the availability, quality, and predictability of this essential resource, threatening livelihoods, health, ecosystems, and economic growth. In Kenya’s varied landscapes
from the glaciers of Mt. Kenya to the dry plains of Turkana, the coastal shores of Mombasa, and the urban sprawl of Nairobi climate‐related water security risks are manifesting in painful and often deadly ways.
Drought and erratic rainfall have become more than seasonal woes; they are now the baseline. Groundwater levels are falling, rivers once perennial are drying up, and lakes fluctuate wildly. Scientists report that Mt. Kenya’s glaciers have lost nearly half of their mass in the past century, with cascading impacts on rivers that rely on glacial melt. Communities that once could count on regular flows are now forced to dig deeper wells, travel further for water, or consume water of questionable quality. Floods, too, are no longer rare anomalies.
Heavy rains overwhelm drainage systems, wash hazardous materials into drinking supplies, and displace thousands. Saltwater intrusion threatens coastal aquifers around Mombasa, while rivers in semi‐arid regions respond to climate shifts by turning from perennial to seasonal flows, undermining everything from domestic supply to livestock grazing.
Kenya has not been idle in facing these challenges. The Kenya Water Security and Climate Resilience Project (KWSCRP) have been rolled out to strengthen investment planning, improve water infrastructure, boost institutional capacity, and help communities adapt. Projects like the Lower Nzoia Irrigation Scheme and the Mwache Dam aim to expand irrigation, increase bulk water supply to coastal regions, and help cushion against both drought and flooding risks. Other strategies include nature‐based solutions, catchment protection, rainwater harvesting, and the “100 dam initiative,” which aims to build small dams to serve populations with recurrent water shortages.
Yet beyond policies and projects are real voices that capture the urgency of the crisis. “This water pan is a treasure, it is gold,” says Steve Macharia, a farmer who uses lined pans to store rainwater. What once limited his harvests to a single season, water storage now allows him to grow crops three times a year. His income has leapt from about KSh 50,000 to KSh1.5 million annually, showing how water security can transform lives. Julius Korir, Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Water, Sanitation, and Irrigation, offers a warning of national scale: “The rainfall patterns have changed due to effects of climate change hence making water availability more unpredictable.”